Simple Cooked Tomato Salsa

My friend Arturo taught me how to make this simple salsa the other day. He calls it “Salsa Fresca”, which he says is what this salsa is called where he’s from in Mexico. What we in the states usually call salsa fresca, a chunky salsa with chopped fresh tomatoes, onions and chiles, is something completely different. Looking for similar recipes in some of Diana Kennedy’s books I find several references to “salsa de jitomate” or simply, “tomato salsa”, and none for salsa fresca. But that’s not surprising. The names for dishes, and even ingredients, can vary widely, depending on where you are in the country.

Fortunately, the salsa is more simple than its name’s etymology. And likely you’ve had it before, if you’ve ever stepped inside a taqueria. There you usually have a choice of salsas, one smooth, red, and hot, the other made with chopped fresh tomatoes, onions, and chiles. This would be the first, the smooth, red and hot one. It’s great for dipping tortilla chips, or over quesadillas.

Method

1 Put tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, salt, and water into a blender. Purée for 20 seconds, until completely liquified.

2 Heat olive oil in a sauce pan on medium high. Pour purée into pan. Bring to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture completely changes color from light red to a much darker red, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Keep refrigerated when not using.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to Simple Cooked Tomato Salsa on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

You might also enjoy...

Showing 4 of 26 Comments

Denny Graham

This is a fantastic recipe; it’s simple, one doesn’t have to run to store, and extremely tasty. I used the perfect tomatoes and the less than perfect tomatoes, and the salsa is still great. I’ve used one jalapeno with the seeds removed and two jalapenos with seeds, plus a couple Serrano’s. More heat, but still great. And with this recipe, the salsa doesn’t spend much in fridge. Tonight I used about half batch while watching the news. Good stuff!

Linda

I love this method. I also left out the water, and for those who want a less runny salsa, just cook it longer! The next time I make it, I will use a ghost pepper…

irregardlessly

I changed a little, did not add the water (fresh tomatoes were watery already) and used whatever peppers were from my grandmother’s garden. It was very tasty but very thin/runny. I like smooth salsa but was expecting something a little thicker. As the recipe goes it is IMHO too thin for e.g. dipping with chips. Probably very good as a sauce though. I may try just finely dicing the tomatoes next time instead of blending on puree.

Cooking it longer will thicken it more. ~Elise

Janet

Just made this with tomatoes from our Grandma’s garden. FINALLY after many attempts to make home made salsa only to be disappointed in the taste. For me this one is a Keeper. Very simple. I really like cilantro so I took a handful with some stems and added it to the blender. I made one mistake I used 6 tomatoes so I figured i needed to add more water then the 1/4 cup so I doubled the water. To me there is NO NEED to double the water probally would not of tasted watery if I did not double the water. I did double the garlic though and to me that worked out nicely. Thank You, Thank You .

Kristen

Can I freeze this? If so, how long do you think it would last in the freezer?

Yes, you should be able to freeze. No idea how long it would last. A few months? ~Elise